Lying scum!

It has become a genre in its own right. Doubtless its practitioners regard it as an art and take immense pride in their work. It may well be that, in the realm of the mainstream media, a CV is greatly enhanced by the boast of being an accomplished dissembler, deceiver and liar. Familiarity with the output of the British media in Scotland makes it easy to believe that there might be considerable demand for individuals able and willing to dispense unabashed dishonesty for a small fee.

A talent for taking any story about Scotland, however upbeat or positive, and turning into a dire and depressing tale of soul-sucking woe is certainly valued by the British political elite to which The Herald and other organs of that abysmal ilk owe unwavering allegiance. A knack for concocting crisis, catastrophe and chaos out of the trivial and the mundane is the main qualification for a career as a mercenary hack.

In the wake of the Grenfell Towers disaster decent people were asking ‘How could this happen?’. Those hired to peddle the British state’s propaganda in Scotland were asking ‘How can we link this to the Scottish Government?’. There are no considerations of accuracy or veracity or sense or logic which can be allowed to stand in the way of anti-SNP spin. Respect for the public is an entirely alien concept in the world of the mainstream media.

A thick skin might also be useful attribute for those styling themselves correspondents and commentators and even ‘opinion-makers’. Although the evidence suggests that the practitioners of this odious art have as little regard for the opinions of those they lie to as they have for niceties such as truth and professional standards. So long as they get their pittance, and maybe the occasional pat on the head from their peers in the form of a bauble recognising some exceptional piece of fabrication, prevarication or distortion, their protective bubble of superiority and self-regard remains intact.

A claim to being generally despised by consumers of media messages may add the decisive polish to that CV.

I have no intention of cataloguing the gratuitous distortions and judicious omissions in this execrable article. Those who are concerned with the facts can read the Nuffield Trust’s report for themselves. I will settle for presenting the following extract, in which I have emphasised the words which all should note rather delicate understatement.

“Several interviewees from across the spectrum of roles referred to a polarised political culture, with the SNP Government seeking majority support for independence and A LARGELY HOSTILE PRESS LOOKING TO ATTACK THEIR RECORD ON THE NHS.”

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16 thoughts on “Lying scum!”

It seems to me that you are over-reacting somewhat to what the Herald wrote. I have read the piece several times and I fail to see where the Herald have opinionated anything that you could classify as ” ceaseless attacks on Scotland’s public services and democratic institutions mounted by the British media.”
They have reported verbatim what the positive aspects of the Scottish NHS as seen by the Nuffield Trust, and they have pin-pointed areas that the rUK NHS would do well to copy from Scotland. They have also highlighted areas of concern to them re funding and the on-going independence debate. This would seem to me to be fair enough. Should the Herald only report what you see as the good but ignore the bad? Would this be “accomplished dissembling?”

Its the headline though Geach …..
“Experts warn NHS at risk from independence focus”. It ignores the generally positive nature of the report and tries to instill a feeling amongst casual readers that the SNP is damaging the NHS.

These people know the majority of readers don’t get much further than the headline and many more will only see the headline in passing without buying the paper.

It is those type of “readers” the headline writers are aiming at. Not the discerning and diligent readers who take the time to read the entire article. In that, they are effectively dishonest.

I’ll say again, the press did not attack the NHS, they reported what the Nuffield Trust had said, and the NT have a valid point, but the issue with the headline would make a casual observer think the the NT report was entirely negative…it clearly wasn’t.

HM government in London cutting the funds available for public services in Scotland.
HM opposition in Scotland demanding that more money be spent on public services.
HM press in Scotland attacking Scotland’s government for it’s management of public services.
Anyone would think they are doing it deliberately.

If I hear Dugdale say again that the SG are passing on the UK Govt’s austerity cuts I’ll……When the money from WM is cut what other options are there? We don’t have all the levers which an independent country has.

Well the conservatives are inflicting austerity deliberately on public services in England and through the Barnett consequentials Scotland suffers a cut to its budget as a result even where this area, health is a devolved matter.

The NHS in Scotland is being slowly strangled like its counterpart in England and the SNPs successful management of the NHS is in the face of these cuts.

How much more we could do with full control of our economy, yet every unionist party has denied Scotland full fiscal autonomy as part of the UK and now is out to get the SNP when they know full well the real problem with the NHS is underfunding.
The Scottish press, if they were worth their salt, would be poiniting out that Scotlands funding is being cut because of decisions taken at Westminster but they wont.
They are engaged in a battle to oust the SNP and frankly they dont give a damn if our public services are a football to be kicked about. They seem to be in denial about the demoralising effect they have on the Scottish psyche, through the continual reporting of bad news with no positive news reported ,nor the fact that they add to the human misery of those who are sick or vulnerable throught their comstant attacks and scare stories. That’s the generous interpretation

In my opinion this is systematic abuse of people livng in Scotland and these so called journalists and broadcasters should sit back and think very carefully about whether they really want to be part of that.
I also think that the Scottish government should go ahead and introduce its own legislation on broadcasting and fund new outlets. The current set up is nothing more than a system of control and must be in breach of both international law and human rights legislation.

I’ve just skimmed through the NT report and the Herald article. The NT report is overwhelmingly positive in a great many respects, and draws many favourable comparisons with the situation in England. There are criticisms of course. The Herald on the other hand is overwhelmingly negative and gives disproportionate space to the issue of finance without pointing out that financial pressures have a great deal to do with how the UK government has reduced the Scottish Government’s budget.

I think “Lying Scum” is a fair description of most of the UK and Scottish Unionist media. This is just one further example in a catalogue of lies, distortions and bias.

The Perfect Headline , a one off lazy reference to anything the Scottish Government does , ok that would be Parr for the course it goes with the territory , when its continually the focus of the media then parroted by the BBC on their paper review this daily circle of mis information becomes the norm for the media in Scotland , they just cant help themselves its what they do .
I doubt if there is any other country on the planet where the media has one aim , one goal that is to damage the freely elected Government on a daily basis , even the most mundane and trivial item becomes a catastrophic crises , a total failure of the administration and government .
It is a wonder we manage to live in this dire calamitous rat hole we call Scotland .

I wouldn’t use a phrase like ‘lying scum’ myself, but it is entirely understandable when an overwhelmingly positive analysis is reported under a banner headline ‘Experts warn NHS at risk from independence focus’. The headline writer knows very well that most people in Scotland don’t buy The Herald, but many thousands see their front page in passing. The report is quite clear that the main threat to the NHS is lack of funding. The independence question may lead to the SNP not making difficult decisions because of the ‘toxic’ political culture, where every major decision is seen through the prism of i nependence. The Herald yesterday deeliberately and knowingly added to the ‘toxic’ political culture – as they do at every opportunity. And don’t get me started on The Scotsman.

Such individuals, the journalists, are truly dishonest scum. Paid traitors who relish any chance
to paint Scotland as a second rate country with failing services, failing Government ,with no
saving grace. These Doomsayers should not be forgotten, when we become Independent.
Let us crowdfund to send these British lackeys down to their masters land, and they can
revel in a REAL second rate country, and they would not even have to invent the problems
they write about. Back to your Land of Dope and Tory, you bunch of liars.